


Winner's Discretion

by annabethwrites



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Assassins messing around, Avengers Tower, F/M, Fluff, Humor, using Steve to amusing themselves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-14
Updated: 2014-11-14
Packaged: 2018-02-25 08:59:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2616020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annabethwrites/pseuds/annabethwrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky and Natasha decide to challenge each other. Steve is caught in the middle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Winner's Discretion

**Author's Note:**

  * For [suburbanomad](https://archiveofourown.org/users/suburbanomad/gifts).



> I wrote this based off of a prompt that was given to me on tumblr.
> 
> This might be really bad, but it's my first attempt to write a humorous take on the Avengers. Bucky/Nat is my Marvel otp and I love writing them so far. This might be out of character but I did the best that I could.
> 
> A special thank to my lovely friend, [cherrylove](http://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrylove/pseuds/cherrylove), for helping me with this.

To an outside observer, any conversation between the Black Widow and the Winter Soldier over shots of vodka might seem like a terrifying concept. In reality, Natasha Romanoff and James Barnes were deciding to partake in a challenge, a show of wits and cleverness all revolving around their good friend and teammate, Steve Rogers.

“So we’re clear on the guidelines?” she said, pouring them both a small amount of the clear liquid.

“Yeah,” Bucky nodded, raising his glass with a slight smirk on his face. “Whoever gets Steve to blush the most wins, yeah?”

Natasha nodded and gave him her most charming smile, knocking back the vodka without so much as a wince.

“Get ready to have your ass handed to you, Barnes,” she said, a promise in her words.

“I would get ready if I thought there was a chance in hell that it would happen. I have an advantage over you, Natalia. I know Steve Rogers better than anyone. If someone is going to win this challenge, it’ll definitely be me,” he replied, taking his turn to pour the alcohol.

This time they tapped their tiny glasses together with a light clink.

“May the best assassin win,” Natasha said.

Bucky echoed her sentiment with a nod, several possibilities already forming in his head.

“What does the winner get?” he asked.

She thought about it for a moment before deciding.

“Winner’s discretion,” Natasha suggested.

“Sounds good to me,” he agreed, glancing around the room to lay eyes on his best friend. “Operation Blushing Steve is a go.”

“Is that the best you can do?” she asked, her eyebrow lifting out of derision.

Bucky shrugged, grinning at her as he backed away.

“I didn’t give it my best shot. I’m too busy focusing.”

She rolled her eyes as he sauntered off, already planning all the ways that she would make Steve blush before James could so much as lift a finger. This was going to be fun.

* * *

His first chance to act came one night when they went to a nearby bar with some of the other guys. It was hard to remain inconspicuous with a billionaire, a Norse god, and Captain America with them, so Tony insisted on paying for a private booth at the back. Four pitchers of beer and quite a few shots of whatever Thor insisted on trying, and they were all getting comfortable. Bucky had even stopped habitually checking his exits about five minutes ago.

“All right, cough it up super soldiers,” Tony said, leaning forward with a bright look in his eyes.

“Pardon?” Steve said, looking confused.

Tony rolled his eyes, looking at Clint for help.

“He means stories,” the archer helpfully informed them.

“Stories? No no, Katniss. I mean legends. You two are some of the only guys left from that war and, no offense to the other veterans, but you can remember most of it. I know the forties were all about chivalry and what not but I know that you two got up to all sorts of shenanigans that you are obligated to share with us.”

Steve started to shake his head, clearly not wanting to fall into that trap. Bucky, however, was all too willing to speak up. In fact, he even had the perfect story in mind. A slow smile formed on his face, one that his best friend knew was dangerous.

“Buck…” Steve began.

“We were still kids, sixteen or seventeen at the most,” Bucky began, all too thrilled to share this tale.

All at once, Thor, Clint, Sam, and Tony leaned in, anticipation on their faces.

“Steve decided to that, to get himself a dame, he had to be just like the most charming man he’d ever known,” he continued, winking over at his friend as Steve shook his head, knowing exactly where this was going.

“Let me guess, the one and only James Buchanan Barnes,” Sam said drily.

“Yep!” Bucky nodded proudly, putting a hand over his chest. “I was honored, truly. But I knew that it could only go one way. So of course, I insisted on tagging along.”

“Not to help me, of course. He wanted to be a firsthand witness so that he could tell the story in situations just like this one,” Steve said, rolling his eyes.

It was hard to tell in the dim light of the bar, but Bucky could almost see a light flush forming on his cheeks. His plan was going well.

“Let me tell you, if you’ve never heard Steve Rogers attempt to flirt with a woman, up to and including calling her ‘doll’ in a failed attempt at flattery, you’ve never really lived,” Bucky said, clapping a hand on Steve’s shoulder.

“It always worked for you,” Steve muttered as Tony, Clint, and Sam shook with laughter.

“Doll?” Thor said, his face slightly confused. “I do not understand. How does calling a woman by the name of a child’s toy help to charm her?”

Tony snorted into his glass as Sam leaned over to the large Asgardian.

“Old-fashioned jargon, big man.”

“Ah,” Thor nodded, gesturing for Bucky to continue.

“Did you get the girl, Rogers?” Clint questioned.

Steve didn’t reply, simply narrowing his eyes in Bucky’s direction.

“Well first he called her by the wrong name, which wouldn’t have been so bad if it hadn’t been her best friend’s name, who was right beside her. Then, poor guy, he spilled a drink on her dress, tripped over himself trying to clean her up, and then ripped her dress.”

By this time, everyone was roaring with laughter except for Steve, who seriously looked like he might be considering the pros of finding new friends.

“I’m guessing that wasn’t out of the Barnes handbook,” Sam said, chuckling as Tony waved the waitress down for another round of drinks.

“Oh I’m not done,” Bucky said, ignoring Steve’s warning look. “He saw the girl again a week later and, reverting back to his normal self, decided to apologize on the corner of a street in Brooklyn. But you see, it was raining earlier that day, and the street corners had a habit of collecting water so that when any large vehicle drove by…”

“Oh no,” Clint said, already able to see the end to this story.

“Oh yeah. That girl ended up with street water all over her and Steve, trying to be a hero, pulled her away in an attempt to stop her from getting wet.”

“He ripped the second dress?” Tony guessed.

“He ripped the second dress,” Bucky confirmed with a nod.

“Now I see what Nat is always trying to set you up on dates. You really shouldn’t do it on your own,” Clint said, a grin on his face.

There it was, a red flush staining his best friend’s cheeks. Knowing that Natasha would never believe him if he didn’t provide evidence, Bucky whipped out the phone that Tony gave him a few months ago and snapped a picture of Steve’s blushing face.

“What was that for?” the blonde man demanded, looking at Bucky with wide eyes.

“Proof,” he said with a shrug.

“Of what?” Clint asked curiously.

Bucky didn’t answer, sitting back in his chair with a smug smile on his face.

“All right, well if we’re going to play that game, I’m telling them about the dance hall in ‘39,” Steve said.

His eyes widened, the smirk sliding off of his face as he sat up once more.

“You wouldn’t dare,” Bucky said in a low voice.

“Oh please, dare away,” Tony encouraged, looking thrilled at this development.

This time, it was Steve who looked smug and Bucky who was fighting any reaction to this embarrassing tale. This contest with a certain red-haired assassin, while fun, might just have unintended consequences such as this one. Bucky only hoped that Natasha experienced them too.

* * *

On the third day of the contest, it was clear to him that his bawdy jokes and embarrassing memories weren’t doing the trick. Natasha was cunning and beautiful, two things that made this very easy for her. He had to step up, take her feet out from underneath her. After all, winner’s choice meant that he could get pretty much whatever he wanted if he managed to beat her. That prospect was all too tempting to pass up. Luckily for him, most of the group decided to watch a movie in Steve’s part of the tower that night. When Natasha came walking in, hips swaying and lips curving upwards, James knew that she was about to make a move. Sure enough, she decided to drape herself across the couch that Bucky and Steve were currently occupying, seated firmly in the blonde man’s lap with her legs stretched out across Bucky’s thighs.

“What are we watching?” Natasha asked casually, as if she didn’t just plop herself in Captain America’s lap.

Bucky had to give her points. The tips of Steve’s ears were already turning slightly pink.

“The Princess Bride,” Pepper informed her.

She nodded her thanks before focusing on the screen. When her hand lifted and lightly brushed over the back of Steve’s head, Natasha looked back at him with slightly furrowed brows.

“You need a haircut, Rogers,” she said, running her fingers through his longer-than-usual hair.

Steve began flushing to the roots of said hair and Bucky, not to be outdone, decided to take part in causing his best friend to blush. His hands went to Natasha’s feet, brushing over them with a small smile as she gave him a warning look. Keeping an innocent expression on his face, Bucky began massaging the sole of her right foot first, gently moving his thumb in a circle. A sigh escaped from her mouth and she leaned her head back, her eyelids fluttering as he rubbed the tension out of her feet. Bucky knew Natasha’s weaknesses as much as she knew his and foot massages could always relax her and, in certain situations, pull rather intimate noises out of her.

As if she knew exactly what he was trying to do, which she probably did, she let out a breathy moan when he moved down to the arch of her foot. Neither assassin paid attention to the several pairs of eyes that fell on them at the sound, only focused on one thing and that was Steve. His lips were pressed together and he was trying very hard to focus on the movie, a feat not made easy by the beautiful woman on his lap almost mewling at what his best friend was doing. The blush was slowly moving down Steve’s throat to his chest. Bucky looked up to see Natasha staring at him with darkened eyes, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. The corner of his mouth lifted and he gave her a wolfish grin, winking at her. Steve shifted uncomfortably, trying to focus on anything but what was happening here.

“Excuse me, Natasha,” Steve said in a choked voice.

“Of course,” she replied innocently, moving to drape herself over Bucky, her legs straddling his and her head lying on his shoulder.

Steve moved as quickly as he could, standing up and walking out of the room stiffly. Before sliding off of his lap, Natasha pressed a soft kiss to Bucky’s throat. When she was sitting next to him, curled into his side, he put his arm around her shoulders to hug her in closely.

“That wasn’t nice of us,” she whispered quietly, an entirely unapologetic expression on her face.

“A means to an end, Natalia. Steve will survive,” he replied, all too willing to make his best friend uncomfortable just a few more times if it meant having his way with the woman at his side.

“He may not speak to us for a while,” Natasha warned him.

“Oh don’t worry. He’ll forgive us soon enough,” Bucky said confidently.

* * *

Sure enough, Steve still hadn’t learned his lesson. After several days of harmless tricks, pranks, and innuendos, one of which included Steve going from the gym locker room all the way up to his apartment in the tower wearing nothing but a star spangled speedo, Bucky decided to take it easy on his friend. The invite for breakfast was meant to be harmless. Natasha had just finished a mission and would sleep for at least a few hours in their bed, or so he thought. His pancakes were legendary and Steve had always loved them even back when they were kids.

“You care to tell me what’s been going on this past week?” Steve asked as he poured syrup over his plate.

“I don’t really think you want to know that,” Bucky said warningly.

“I’ll accept that answer,” he agreed.

After all, any non-mission situation that involved Bucky and Natasha teaming up didn’t ever mean good things for people around them, including and especially Steve. In all honesty, he’d really rather not know. Several minutes of small talk later, they heard the soft padding of bare feet coming down the hallway. Bucky glanced up just in time to spit his orange juice out all over the place. Steve’s reaction time had to be a record, his eyes widening and his face reddening faster than even he could run. To her credit, Natasha walked into the kitchen as if nothing was out of place, her demeanor as casual as possible like she wasn’t completely naked. It was a glorious sight and usually, Bucky would be delighted to see it. But at that moment, with his best friend looking everywhere but at the woman in question, he wasn’t entirely pleased.

“Out,” he said, pointing at the door.

It took that one word to give a deeply blushing Steve permission to make a mad dash for the door. From her place in front of the fridge, Natasha couldn’t help but smirk proudly. Bucky’s arms slid around her waist just a few moments later, turning her to face him. His eyes were much darker than normal and he almost looked possessive of her, a realization that made warm shivers curl down her spine.

“The contest is over, I think,” he said, bending his head to nuzzle at her throat as his hands stroked up her sides.

“Hmm,” Natasha hummed, curling her fingers into his dark hair. “That means I win, Barnes.”

“I’m okay with that,” Bucky said simply, far too distracted at the feeling of her soft skin beneath his fingers.

She shivered as the cool metal of his left hand brushed the underside of her breast.

“So what does the winner want?” he asked.

“I have a few things in mind but they all seem to involve a bed,” she replied, her green eyes dancing with amusement as she looked up at him.

Bucky grinned down at her, lifting her into his arms with ease. Her legs wrapped around his hips, her hands lacing together at the back of his neck.

“I can manage that,” he said, walking them back towards the bedroom as she bent down to kiss him with a triumphant smile.

**Author's Note:**

> I would love to hear what you think!
> 
> If you want to give me prompts or just talk to me, my tumblr is lady-annabeth-stark.


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